Friday, 20 February 2009

Update: Of Car & Cows: S'gor MB could be charged – Malaysiakini

Updated 6pm:

Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim could be charged in connection with the allegations of abuse of power in the maintenance of a luxury car and purchase of cattle in conjunction with the Hari Raya Korban celebrations . - Malaysiakini .

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) today said it has strong evidence against him.

Speaking to reporters in Penang, MACC chief commissioner Ahmad Said Hamdan (picture left) said investigations have been wrapped up and it is up to the attorney-general to take further action.

"The MACC can decide but it would be better for the attorney-general to consider and take action, it involves a VIP and we have to be fair to everyone," he said.

He was responding to a question on why MACC did not proceed to prosecute Abdul Khalid, which is within its powers to do so.

Two lawsuits filed

On Wednesday, Khalid had filed two suits against former Selangor menteri besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo regarding the 'car and cows' allegations which appeared in the New Straits Times and Utusan Malaysia.

Mohd Khir had alleged that the current menteri besar had purchased a Lexus as his official car.

However, Khalid later clarified that the car was his own but he was using it for official purposes as well.

Following this, an anti-corruption watchdog filed a MACC report accusing Khalid of using public funds to maintain the vehicle.

On the cattle issue, Khalid was accused of misusing RM110,400 of state funds for the purchase of cattle for his Bandar Tun Razak parliamentary constituency in conjunction with the Hari Raya Korban celebrations.

The menteri besar later explained that the arrangements to purchase and donate the cattle were made solely by the state agency, Selangor Development Corporation (PKNS) and the donor companies, without his or his officers' involvement.

Why the double standards?

Meanwhile, Khalid's lawyer Sankara Nair expressed deep regret over the statement by the MACC chief that there is strong evidence to show that the menteri besar had misused his powers.

"It has been the norm in MACC's practice hitherto not to make statements indicating or stating the culpability of a person who is being investigated or at the end of the said investigation.

"In this particular case, MACC had chosen to depart from the time honoured norm and as such it clearly reeks of double-standards," he told a press conference in Shah Alam.

Sankara said it is disturbing that MACC, in this instance, had singled out his client who is an opposition politician to "look guilty in the eyes of the public before he is charged in court or convicted."

"Let me reiterate that the protocol on the decision to prosecute places a very heavy burden on the prosecution and the mere stating of the technicality without the essential element of mens rea (criminal intent) does not certainly meet the standards to pursue prosecution.

"I therefore urge the MACC to act professionally at all time," he added.

In a another development, the MACC would also investigate allegations of abuse of power by Perak state assembly speaker V Sivakumar for suspending Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir and his six state executive councillors from the assembly."If it's true that there has been abuse of power, the MACC will take appropriate action," said Ahmad Said.

The MACC is the former ACA.They are synonymous; the changes, if any, are certainly cosmetic.It is still a tool of the government of the day, to be used when it is in the interests of the government, and not to be used when vice-versa. Sad to say, the outgoing PM much trumpeted reform is no reform!The so-called reform, as it turns out is, maybe, just to give him face ...for his self- satifaction that he has carried out the reforms he promised!Can the raayat be so easily hookwink?!

Have a Heart: Save IJN

Israel’s assault on Gaza, by air, sea and now land, has killed (at the time of this writing) more than 600 Palestinians, with more than 2,700 injured. Ten Israelis have been killed, three of them Israeli soldiers killed by friendly fire. Beyond the deaths and injuries, the people of Gaza are suffering a dire humanitarian crisis that is dismissed by the Israeli government. There is, however, Israeli opposition to the military assault. Read here...

Human Rights

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Child Safety

Parents, guardians, and adults who care for children face constant challenges when trying to help keep children safer in today's fast-paced world.
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) offers easy-to-use safety resources to help address these challenges.
For decades, children were taught to stay away from "strangers." But this concept is difficult for children to grasp and often the perpetrator is someone the child knows.
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Why Hamas is NOT the issue

Mohammed, age six, marched with determination to his bedroom, put on a record of the Fatah marching song, picked up a wooden toy rifle and marched out to the balcony. He pointed the rifle to the sky where minutes ago, Israeli planes flew over dropping bombs on Palestinian refugee sites. Mohammed told me he wanted to be a pilot so he could fight Israeli warplanes. “But Mohammed, the Palestinians do not have planes.” “I don’t care, I will fight them whatever way I can.”Was a resistance fighter born this minute or was he a “future terrorist”? (Beirut 1973)

How does one explain the horrific fate that has befallen caged Gaza – a land saturated with rubble and body parts – carpet-bombed by air, invaded by ground, attacked by sea? Put to the test of history, Israeli “explanations” fail the credibility test. continue here---------------------------------------------Robert Fisk: Leaders lie, civilians die, and lessons of history are ignoredWe've got so used to the carnage of the Middle East that we don't care any more – providing we don't offend the Israelis. It's not clear how many of the Gaza dead are civilians, but the response of the Bush administration, not to mention the pusillanimous reaction of Gordon Brown, reaffirm for Arabs what they have known for decades: however they struggle against their antagonists, the West will take Israel's side. As usual, the bloodbath was the fault of the Arabs – who, as we all know, only understand force. ..Continue here

War on Gaza

Israel's failure to learnBy Nir Rosen (Aljazeera)

When George Bush, the US president, first entered the White House as the commander-in-chief in 2001, Palestinians were being killed in the al-Aqsa intifada.

Eight years later, as Bush prepares to leave office, Israel is carrying out one of the largest massacres in its 60-year occupation of Palestine.

The US, then and now, strongly backs Israel's offensive, justifying it as being, in fact, defensive.To continue read here ...